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CFAS Director Visits the Geriatric Unit at the Polyclinic, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital

On 6th April 2022, the Director of the Centre for Ageing Studies (CFAS), Prof. Dako-Gyeke, in the company of Dr. Akosua Agyemang (Affiliate, CFAS), paid a working visit to the Geriatric Clinic located at the Korle-Bu Polyclinic in Accra, Ghana. The Geriatric Clinic is one of the outfits that has been collaborating with CFAS for years in deliberating on ageing-related issues and providing medical support to older persons. Prof. Dako-Gyeke’s visit to the Clinic was arranged to afford her the opportunity to formally introduce herself as the new Director of the Centre and gain in-depth insight on the activities of the Geriatric Unit.

  

Some of the medical staff attending to patients at the Geriatric Unit

Dr. Allen Steele Dadzie, the Acting Head of Department of the Polyclinic, welcomed the team and introduced them to the staff of the Geriatric Clinic, including Dr. Bennett Sampson (Medical Specialist), and two fellows in training: Dr. Frank Dzifa Kpesanu and Dr. Anthony Eshun. He also delivered a brief information about the Geriatric clinic and their activities. On her part, Prof. Dako-Gyeke gave an overview of the activities CFAS intends to carry out in the year. This covered the Centre’s plans to organize a caregiver training program, webinars, and a research conference. Dr. Akosua Agyemang supplemented that with the Centre’s programme to observe UN’s Celebration Day for the aged (on 1st October) this year and the activities it hopes to organize, such as medical screening for older persons. She emphasized that the Centre would rely on the support of the Geriatric Clinic to conduct the medical screening.

In response, Dr. Frank Dzifa Kpesanu indicated that while the Geriatric Clinic continues to provide salient services to older persons, their work is being impeded by some challenges, including inadequate office space and inadequate staff, particularly the Clinic’s inability to secure a home-grown Geriatric Specialist. Dr. Dadzie added that there were concerns with the Polyclinic securing full ownership of the Clinic and maintaining accreditation to sustain the residency program that would allow for the attachment of fellows in training to the Geriatric Unit. However, the Acting Head of the Polyclinic shared that efforts were being made to address the issues.

Prof. Dako-Gyeke acknowledged the comments shared by the staff of the Clinic. Further, she recommended that it would be useful if the Clinic consider employing the services of a permanent social worker who would use his or her expertise to supplement the work of the medical staff.  Dr Akosua Agyemang suggested to the staff of the Clinic to patronize the Centre’s upcoming training program as it would help them gain more insight into the social aspect of caring for older persons.

Bringing the visit to a close, the Director for CFAS expressed her gratitude to the Geriatric Clinic Staff for hosting the visiting team and urged them to work effortlessly to provide older persons with adequate medical assistance.